Garda probe after woman claims maternity hospital assault

Gardaí are investigating an alleged assault on a woman while she visited a relative in Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH) at the weekend.

And, in a separate incident, a teenager was charged with assault and robbery after an unprovoked attack on a man in a Cork City park.

The teenage boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was arrested close to Ballyphehane park on the city’s southside shortly after 9pm on Sunday.

A man had been sitting near a grotto outside the park when he was approached and attacked. He suffered several facial injuries and was taken to Cork University Hospital (CUH).

The teenager was arrested a short time later and detained at the Bridewell Garda station under the provisions of Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act.

He was brought before Cork District Court yesterday where he was charged with robbery and assault causing harm to a 36-year-old man. He was remanded in custody to St Patrick’s Institution to appear before the courts again on Friday.

Gardaí in Cork are also investigating the alleged assault at CUMH on Saturday after receiving a report from a woman in her 40s with an address in Co Kerry.

She was visiting her sister when she claims an incident occurred in the ward area of the busy maternity hospital.

The visiting woman left the hospital immediately and later reported to her local Garda station in Listowel, Co Kerry, that she had been assaulted by two of her nephews in the hospital.

Gardaí in Listowel referred the matter to Togher gardaí.

A spokesperson for the HSE said CUH’s security department did not require Garda assistance over the weekend.

Meanwhile, the HSE has dismissed claims that there was no doctor on call in CUH’s emergency department on Saturday. It followed reports of chaotic scenes in the emergency department which one patient said a nurse blamed on there being no doctor on call.

However, in a statement yesterday, the HSE said CUH had a full team available on Saturday, including doctors.

He said the hospital had been exceptionally busy in recent days, with a significant increase in the numbers of patients presenting to the emergency department requiring admission to the hospital.

Of the 169 patients who presented at the emergency department between 0.01am on Saturday and 8am on Sunday, 64 required admission to the hospital.